Sunday, November 30, 2014

Bullet Hell is an insane genre of game, and I feel no shame in admitting that it is really hard. I know I spend a lot of time talking about my love of Minecraft, but before there was Minecraft, there was Bullet Hell. I have been playing Shoot em Up style games since the days of Gradius, and it makes so much sense that by brain would love the fast paced and usually very colorful style of Bullet Hell games. I haven't played one in a while, but the new Geometry Wars game recently came out and after seeing Dusty play it, the old itch popped back up and I had to have some fun. I popped on the game Frantic 2 and am having myself a grand time.

It is a bit of a meme among gamers that we consume monstrous amounts of caffeine to keep ourselves alert for hours of gaming, and Fashionista Tea's Organic Creamy Earl Grey could very easily fit the bill, well assuming you drink a lot of it. This is a typical Earl Grey with a creamy twist, my personal favorite way to have an earl. The aroma a nice blend of malt, creamy vanilla sweetness, and a nice bright bergamot kick at the finish. Luckily it is not a kick in the face, more of a nice zingy wake up smell rather than smelling salts like bergamot can be at times.

Brewing up the tea brings out more of the bergamot and balances it out with the rich and creamy vanilla note, there is still a malty note as well, but it is playing second fiddle to the other two more dominant smells. Must be because the malty notes are having a solo in the liquid without the leaves! It is malty and bright with a sweet vanilla undertone and a nice wisp of bergamot at the finish.

So, on the bergamot scale, this tea is definitely in the middle, not too strong and not too weak, in my opinion this polite bergamot is the perfect level of citrus zinginess. There is of course a rich and creamy sweet vanilla note with a touch of cocoa, a bit of malt, and just the tiniest hint of oak wood. The vanilla lingers long after the sip has finished, giving this tea just a hint of a dessert quality. I certainly liked it, I am not the biggest Earl Grey fan (I am pretty sure that is my boyfriend actually, such an earl snob he is!) but I can appreciate one that blends the flavors, adds that extra bit of sweetness, and does not kill me with a citrus bomb to the face.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Time to rejoin the real world, with much regret. I have been an overstuffed, lazy, derping in front of the TV watching stuff or gaming, lump. In order to celebrate my return to normalcy post holiday, I decided to play with rocks! I went through my mom's (she gave me a few really pretty pieces, including a very dirty Savannah River Agate) and I collected a few of my old gemstones I had left with her for safe keeping. I then spent several hours researching the Carolina Bay's geology and formation, spoilers, it is really cool.

So, enough about my nerding out about rocks (though don't be surprised if they start showing up in my photos) it is time for some Oolong! Today's tea is Teavivre's Nonpareil Taiwan Li Shan Oolong Tea, one of Taiwan's Gao Shan (high mountain) teas grown at an altitude of 2,000ft on Li Shan. This specific tea is called a Gao Leng (woo, I learned a new tea phrase!) meaning high (I knew that much) and cold, referring to the environment the tea is grown in, this in theory makes the tea sweeter and more valuable. The about section on the website has a lot of neat info about Taiwanese teas, including which ones are grown at different heights, difference between high and low mountain Oolong, and so forth. Li Shan is not the highest grown tea, but it is certainly up there. The aroma, well, often I find myself going ga-ga over the roasted oolongs, but wow, when I have a dance with a Gao Shan I wonder, why did I ever get seduced by roasted tea? It is so sweet and so very floral, like a bouquet of honeysuckles, hyacinth, orchids, and lilies, it is intensely floral and at the same time very delicate, no worry of being blasted in the face by a perfume shop. There are also notes of chestnut and cream with a very sweet nectar finish.

I should point out that I am still not on the best terms with the gaiwan I am using for this tea review, it is a great gaiwan from a functionality standpoint (or I would have smashed it) but it is so not ok visually, grumble grumble. May I will give it a full review tomorrow, spoilers, it won't be pretty...but I digress. The aroma of the steeped leaves is so immensely sweet, I want to hug it with my nose but that would be just odd. Again with the flowers, it is a blend of honeysuckle as the dominant, hyacinth, lilac, and spicebush. This transitions to a bit of creaminess and honey with a finish of chestnut. The aroma of the liquid (hehe, my notes in my notebook are crooked, always a good sign) is as expected very sweet, a delicate blend of flowers, primarily honeysuckle, osmanthus, and spicebush, this transitions to a sweet finish of chestnut.

First steeping sipping time! First steeps always excite me, they are like starting a story or journey, you get an idea of how things are going to go, but there is room to grow and evolve. The mouthfeel is quite smooth, it coats the mouth and fills it with floral, sweet, happiness. This steep is pretty mellow, a nice sweet nectar start that blooms into hyacinth, orchids, and honeysuckles. The finish is a delicate honey sweetness with a lingering floral note.

The road goes ever on and on, ok, no...Gao Shan is not really a hobbit tea, it is more a tea you would expect the Sindar who dwelt in Gondolin to sip while writing poetry about how they are better than everyone else. The aroma is again, quite yum, the floral aroma has ramped itself up from delicate to intense, there are notes of spicebush, honeysuckle, orchid, osmanthus, hyacinth. So many flowers! There are also notes of chestnuts and a touch of creaminess. And yeah, the taste is sweet and floral, as expected, where the previous steep was flower nectar, this is full on flower essence and creamy chestnut sweetness. You also get a little bit of green fresh vegetation. The aftertaste is floral honey that lingers for quite a while.

Ok, quick question, have any of you ever licked the condensation of the lid of a gaiwan after steeping tea, if you have not, really I suggest doing it because it will be the best thing ever. So super sweet and like the essence of tea distilled into tiny droplets. The aroma is so much flowers, really it smells like a pile of springtime air while visiting a fancy garden, it is so sweet and full of flower nectar that I swear I can smell spring time. The taste is crazy mellow, very smooth and floral with lots of honey and chestnut, this transitions to a touch of mineral and a finish of spicebush that lingers for a while.

Friday, November 28, 2014

OMG guys, I am so stuffed! I am food drunk, and probably a little tea drunk, still. I do not do Black Friday, ok I did take advantage of JiNX's sale yesterday, I saved my money for tea and realized I have enough teas for the moment...and the teas I really wanted were not on sale...so I bought a plushie Minecraft Spider. I have no regrets.

OMG FOOD!

So yeah, that massive pile of food was all cooked by my mom, who is awesome. It is all gluten free, meaning I got to go all out and fill my gorge pouch (just like a cat, I totally have one.) We will eat like little piggies for several days, and I greatly hope for turkey soup.

Mom caught me in the act of stealing food

So, I hope all of you are having a wonderful little holiday, and if you do not celebrate the day of eating too much and then the day of bargain hunting, well, I wish you all a wonderful Friday. I will resume my usual tea reviews tomorrow, but for now, I am going to go roll around on the floor and debate if eating another slice of pie is a good idea.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Ah snow, glorious glorious snow. It was foretold that we would get 4-8 inches, and maybe we did, but since it was so warm the snow was really just a pile of very pretty slush. Ah well, snow is snow, but I am a little sad my plans for building a snow fort and then having tea in said fort went down the tube. So instead I pierced my nose and caught up on past episodes of Ghost Adventures. Also, my mom is a total jerk for baking an amazing gluten free pumpkin pie, giving me a tiny taste, and not letting me have anymore until tomorrow. That pie is killing me, it belongs in my belly.

So today's tea from What-Cha is a little odd, and by odd I mean purple. Specifically it is Kenya Silver needle Purple Varietal White Tea, so it is a white tea that looks purple, thanks to a funky little pigment called Anthocyanin. Where the leaves of tea are usually green, this varietal is eggplant purple (same pigment that makes said eggplants purple, along with a ton of other purple plants) and in theory give the tea even more antioxidants. As per usual I could care less about the health benefits, what I care about is the taste (and smell too of course) though it being slightly more drought, frost, and pest resistant than its green cousin is really fascinating. One more thing before I get into the sniffing of the leaves, Anthocyanin does not change the smell, but it does give a slight boost in astringency, you can thank this pigment for blood oranges being a hair more bitter than other oranges. Ok, so, how do these leaves (that look more dark grey than purple...hehe, they are Drow!) smell? Kinda funky, actually, like a blend of peony flowers and kettle corn (hello Kenyan Silver Needle) and prunes, a bit of red wine, and and sharp, dried, leaves. It smells peculiar and I kinda like it, but also find myself doing the 'huh' head tilt.

So, I decided to go grandpa-bowl-style for this tea, into my fancy bowl it went for a nice long winded sipping session. The aroma wafting up from my cups was again a bit odd, blending the peony blossom, sweet corn, and delicate notes of Kenyan Silver Needle with slightly tart plums, prunes, bamboo leaves, and tomato leaves. This tea has a lot of things going on, but it is surprisingly delicate and light.

At the beginning the taste is mild, a really smooth mouthtaste, surprisingly no trichome fuzz on the tongue. It starts with a light sweetness of sweet corn and peony blossom along with cooked oats and tomato leaf. As it steeps more, I never notice any bitterness, even after 20 or so minutes sitting in water, the grain quality becomes richer, but not sweeter, like corn and oats with a touch of distant flowers.

Sadly it did not survive very long, it only took one topping up of water before it was rendered mostly tasteless. I also experimented with my gaiwan and got more or less the exact same effect, steep one was nearly identical to the beginning of the bowl method, steep two like the long steep, and steep three was nothing but the ghost of a tea.

I think I would really like this tea if I never met its really hot friend Kenyan Silver Needle, I know that sounds a bit mean, but I feel like the purple varietal really wants to be Kenyan Silver Needle so badly that its own unique features get lost.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

There was dirt today, and leaves, and lots of bugs. Just a heads up. Yeah, I got to play in the dirt today like a little kid, it was wonderful! Today might be the last warm day before snow comes and covers all of my mother's potted plants, making all the late autumn cleaning a really mushy, gross, and cold mess. So while waiting for mom to require my assistance, I took my camera and lifted various rocks and stumps looking for bugs. I found several spiders, tons of centipedes (and centipede eggs) more pillbugs than I could count, and a terrestrial flatworm of some type. Sadly mom would not let me keep the Yellow Sac Spider in a jar since 'enough spiders find their way inside' which is completely true. No desk friend for me this time...yet.

So, to spare some of my more bug-phobic readers anymore heebie-jeebies, it is time for tea! Today's tea is The Persimmon Tree Tea Company's Wellness Blend, an herbal blend of Organic Green Rooibos, Organic Fennel, Organic Linden Flower, Organic Orange Peel, Organic Raspberries, Organic Licorice Root, Organic Neem, Organic Cinnamon, Elderberries, Echinacea, and Chili Pepper, designed as a pick me cup. It also has the added benefit of calming the nerves and getting rid of headaches, and you know, when you have chronic headaches a nice herbal sip before bedtime is always welcome. The aroma, well, with all these herbs in it is expectantly herbaceous, reminding me of a plethora of dried herbs hanging from an herb show. Of course there are floral notes, a touch of peppery warmth, and a tiny bit of celery. It reminds me a little of my mom's kitchen during winter, her drying kitchen herbs, a pot of simmering spice potpourri, and always flowers.

The now steeped pile of plants and spices is quite soggy, and still very much so smells like herbs, but this time with a very sweet note of fruit and a slightly tart note of berries. This fades to warm spice, pepper, and woody finish. The liquid, oddly enough, smells like pie. It smells like pie crust, berry fillings, and an herbal finish.

Sadly? I do not have a headache, and I am actually quite calm, so I am unable to relay on how the tea affects that, so it will just be about how it tastes. It starts sweet and herbal, a blend of fruit and spices. Again, pie comes to mind, not entirely sure why, but each sip I take reminds me of eating a slightly spicy berry pie with herbs baked into the crust. Not that I have ever actually eaten that, but it sounds really tasty. I like this tea, it is pretty mild as herbal teas go, no kicking in the face with the taste of plant bits and flowers, so that is a good if you want something gentle while being spicy and sweet.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Hooray! Celebration! Happy Dance! Ok, not so much of the happy dance, it might cause my headache to come back. Yes, I am celebrating the headache I have had...for weeks...taking a break for a bit. I can still feel it poking around, it will be back in a few hours, but a break is always a reason to celebrate. It is a thing that I have dealt with all my life, stupid week to month long splitting headaches that at times make thinking rather hard, I was so worried I was not going to be able to write this evening. So, I am glad, my pain is eased and I can do the thing I look forward to most each day...rambling about tea!

First I have to admit that I made a derp. Remember my epic road trip with my mom where we had tea in a hotel room, right about a month ago? Well, that night Teavivre contacted me to do an Oolong series on my blog, perhaps answering them after hours on the road was not the best idea...since I readily agreed...to review one of the teas I have already reviewed. So what does one do when they need to review a tea they have already reviewed (and recently so it is not even reviewing a new harvest) the review it with a different brewing style! Previously I reviewed Teavivre's Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) Wuyi Rock Oolong Tea Fujian the Chinese Gong Fu Method using my Gaiwan, and I will be honest, it has been over a year I think since I brewed an Oolong Western Style, as soon as I got my Gaiwans and Yixing teapots, I never went back. So, let's have a little fun and break out the bone china teacup, shall we? The aroma of the leaves is pretty much the same as last time, a blend of sweetness, char, and richness. It starts with cocoa, tobacco, woodiness, and sweet molasses, this fades into baking bread, honey, char, and a finish of distant flowers.

Since the leaves are so big and I did not want to crush them, I tossed them into my funky thrift store find, yeah, it is part of a glass double boiler, but works really well as a small teapot, cha hai, and steeping vessel, I like using non-tea intended things as tea things. The aroma of the brewed leaves is pretty intense after that long (ok 2 minutes is not that long) of a steep, there are notes of charcoal, molasses, tobacco, wet autumn leaves, cocoa, and honey. It is thick and heavy, reminding me of a wet autumn day where the smoke hangs low in the valley. The liquid, wow, that is also pretty intense, blending the tobacco and char with the molasses and cocoa, with a tiny finish of honey.

So, this tea might have been what killed my headache, kinda like smelling salts on a fainting Victorian lady, it could not survive the potency that is Western Brewed Da Hong Pao. The taste starts off rich and stays rich till the end, with a beginning of molasses, cocoa, and spicebush. This transitions to sharp charcoal and tobacco, and oak wood with the tobacco taste lingering, giving the finish a bit of a bitter bite. Not an unpleasant bitterness, mind you, well if you are a fan of bitter things (yes, I eat kale and like my chocolate super duper dark, I love the bitter side of things) you will find this very pleasant. It is not a dry, tannic, mouth-puckering bitterness, the mouth feel is actually quite smooth.

Round two, I doubled my time and even with the longer steep noticed the aroma is milder. Not so much sweetness and richness, more woodsy with a touch of cocoa and wet leaf pile. The taste is super mild, like the aroma it is very woodsy. All the bitterness, tobacco notes, and cocoa notes are gone from this steep, I am left with oak wood, peanuts, and a touch of sweet baking bread. So the first steep was intense, I really enjoyed it, the second steep left me bored, I still prefer the journey of Gong Fu for Oolong teas, but might go Western with a Yancha next time my headache starts to rear its stupid...um...head.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

How has everyone's Sunday been? Mine has been pretty decent, got a new set of sound blocking super-bass ear buds, so the process of slowly deafening myself with loud music is going along nicely. Also spent a little money on a new nose piercing kit, this will be the third time I have pierced my nose, the first time when I was a dumb teenager using a safety pin (so dumb! why did I do so many piercings like that, ugh) second in my mid-twenties, and now as soon as the kit arrives a third time in my late twenties. I am going hoop instead of stud this time around in hopes that it won't get stuck in my hair. Now that I am thinking about it, I need a new eyebrow ring too, I have been wearing the same one for like three years, what a fashion faux pas!

Fresh out of its wrapping, pre-bath

But enough about my various piercing fun, it is time for some funky tea gear chatting! So, this teapot is a source of joy, frustration, and mystery to me, bought as a combo gift (by combo I mean Sheena gave me a gift certificate and my mom paid the rest, knowing how I have been eyeballing this teapot since I arrived in PA) for my most recent birthday from the shop One Good Woman, a combo tea and coffee shop located in the town of Camp Hill. Let's start with the mystery part of this teapot, I know nothing about it other than it looks freaking cool. It came with a label of Oolong Teapot and a $40, and that is all the info the shop could give me, they didn't even have the original box for it anymore, and with the label being super faded I would not be surprised if it had been sitting on the shelves for a while (waiting for me, obviously.) I am not even sure this counts as a Yixing, it could be a clay pot very artistically done. Or it could be a Duan Ni, which is Zhu Ni (the red clay like my teapot devoted to Yancha is made from) mixed with other stones and minerals giving it a really massive color range.

Yep, there is a teapot in there

The clay used to make my teapot is really earthy, for lack of a better term, giving a similar apperance to what the interwebs calls Sesame (Zima) Duan Ni (in comparison with the much rarer Ben Shan Lu Ni type of Duan Ni) making it rougher in texture, duller in color, with black and red particles in it...and using it to brew Pu Erh in will cause the color to take on a rust tone. Guess what tea I seasoned this teapot for, yep, Shou Pu Erh all the way. I noticed the color intensity after a many hour soak, I was expecting the change to be more gradual, but this is perfectly fine by me.

Wow, you are so much darker!

Now, about that frustration part. This teapot was designed with form over function in mind I think, and being a complete derp I did not think about that before I fell in love with it. As soon as I got it home I tested its pour, I needed to make sure my plan of going for a Pu Erh was a good call, and if I was going to go Sheng or Shou. So I filled it up, poured...and promptly made a mess, turns out since the spout opening is higher than the top of the teapot, when I have it completely vertical to pour, it also goes out the lid. Hmmm, said I, and with a little experimenting realized I need to either not fill it entirely, or pour at an angle making for a slightly slower pour. That took Sheng out for me, which is fine, I was hoping to go Shou anyway. Also there is the way to hold the teapot, definitely a two hander (unless you have massive huge hands, or just not super tiny) because the set up of the ears/handles is certainly not normal. That part is not so much frustrating just a bit tricky at first to figure out.

Nicely signed

The joy, by this point, should be pretty obvious. I wish I knew more about the teapot, but I am so far from an expert on the incredibly massive world of Yixing. This teapot just reminds me that I have not even really scratched the surface with regards to knowledge, history, and experience, it is amazing! After finding the best method for using this pot and playing with it, I can safely say the elephant in the room is very welcome.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

So once again it is Saturday, my day to kick back and ramble about whatever. I HAVE WRITER'S BLOCK!!! I don't get it often, but when I do it is always a royal pain. Instead of writing I want to be folding my paper or working on my drawing.

This drawing, oh man, so much work to do...so much shading and detail

I have been so into my crafty stuff this week that my brain has turned to mush. It could also be because I am pooped after going to the grocery store with my mom today. It was packed and I got a bit overloaded, do you guys ever get that when shopping in a super busy place? Usually I just block all the noise out by wearing my headphones and cranking the music (and sometimes dancing/singing because I am like that) but I realized my new Kindle Fire doesn't fit in my pocket. My mom gave me one of her old mp3 players, so in the future that problem will be fixed. Now I need to make the perfect 4GB playlist!

So this has been my last two days :P

So, in case you are curious, I have been really into making Paolo Bascetta Stars, they really look best with duo paper. I am also making a bunch of Mette Unit wreathes as possible tree ornaments, a good use for some paper that I had too few of for my standard 30 unit origami. And of course I am always making Sonobe Icosahedra, Skeletal Dodecahedra, and PHiZZ spiky balls. I adore how the PHiZZ units and the units for the Skeletal Dodecahedron are essentially the same thing with a few extra folds...boom, it goes from dodecahedron to icosahedron. Folds are fun, and now I am going to get back to them while sipping on some tea.

Friday, November 21, 2014

I think I have some sort of origami themed sickness, I get out my paper to work on some pieces and next thing I know hours have passed, my teacup is empty, and I am sitting in a pile of origami. Do any of my crafty friends do this? Go into a sort of half-remembered trance and then realize 'oh, I just did a bunch of stuff' usually because your body lets you know you need to do something else (like eat.) It is both rewarding and a little strange. Clearly I am just the Cheval for the Loa of origami, and I am actually totally ok with that.

So after that slightly strange intro (clearly I need more tea, or possibly food) we are onto today's tea: The Persimmon Tree Tea Company's French Vanilla Bean. This sweet sounding tea is a blend of Organic Black Teas, Vanilla Bean, Coconut, and Almonds...those are some of my favorite things in a tea, I wonder if blended together they will be as good? Ok I already know since this tea was logged in my notebook, mwahaha I have tea spoilers! Wow, I am in an odd mood! So, how does this tea smell? Good, like really good, like a vanilla bean and almond infused biscotti dipped in chocolate with a touch of coconut sitting next to a steaming cup of rich, malty, black tea. Sniffing this tea makes me feel under-dressed and lacking elegance, clearly I should be wearing something pretty while sipping this out of fine bone china in some swanky Paris cafe.

Brewing this rich tea does not make it any better, I still feel like I am in the wrong place to be drinking this tea. At least I have a fancy teacup and nifty artisan made teapot to have my tea in. The aroma is super rich, it is sweet and heady from the vanilla, much like sniffing vanilla beans and not vanilla ice cream so it has that richness without creamy heaviness. There is also a cocoa and almond note, not really picking up the coconut though. That is because it is hiding in the aroma of the liquid! It is just a touch, but you can smell the sweet and creamy note of the coconut along with the deliciously sweet vanilla and almonds. There is also a brisk hint of black tea giving the tea a bit of a bite at the finish.

Ok, tasting time, I have my fancy bone china teacup with a matching saucer (really, the saucer is a huge deal for me) and I am ready to take my first sip. It starts out mellow and smooth while retaining the richness of the aroma, it is rich while not weighing you down, kinda like how you feel weighed down by a rich fudge but not by a rich slice of angel food cake. This blooms into a decadent blend of vanilla, almonds, malt, and cocoa, oh man is that ever rich! The coconut adds a level of creaminess to the tea in both mouthfeel and taste, luckily the amount is small so the creaminess does not slide to oily like some coconut heavy teas can do. There is a slight briskness to the tea which keeps the tea from sinking into a too intense heaviness, it wakes up the mouth after the decadence has lulled it into a stupor. The cocoa notes linger in an aftertaste for a while. I was tempted to add a splash of cream to this tea, but decided that would make it too heavy, my mom did try her cup with cream and while it was good it confirmed my suspicion (though she really liked it that way.) We ended up making an afternoon of it with many cups, this is a good afternoon tea.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

I am pretty sure I am in a relationship with a monster...or a trickster god, you might hear people talk about the 2010 Snowpocalypse and how rough it was, that was nothing compared to what I went through. Gleepocalypse. Ben thought it would be the best thing ever to seed and like all my Pandora stations (that I have had for years) with the Glee versions of songs. Pretty soon no matter what station I was on I would be bombarded with Glee! It took so much work to get my perfectly groomed stations back to normal, and I still panic that he messed something up when a Glee song pops up, of course he laughs maniacally. So, that was today's fun story. Still don't know why people complain about the Snowpocalypse though, that was a blast!

So, for today we are having a tea specially formulated by Plum Deluxe for people who like to sip tea while doing artsy stuff, writing, or reading...which is pretty much all I do. Reading Nook is a blend of rosebuds, lavender, chamomile, passionflowers, and cream black tea, I admit I have never seen chamomile in a black tea, what a novel idea! Ok yes, I made a terrible pun, I am sorry!! The aroma is quite interesting, very floral with a mellow blend of lavender and rosy along with the familiar straw aroma of chamomile flowers. It is like sniffing a dried flower bouquet with the hint of sweet cream and malty black tea.

The brewed leaves are sweet and creamy with very strong floral notes, it is a soothing blend of lavender and chamomile with a rich heady note of rose. Under all the creamy sweetness and floral notes is a rich malt undertone that goes really well with the flowers. The liquid is much more tea and less flowers, with a nice strong malt and molasses note and a slight oak wood briskness. There are flowers of course, the blend of rose, chamomile, and lavender adds a really mellow note to the black tea. Me likes!

The idea for this blend is a little genius, I mean when you are reading or doing artsy stuff, you want to be alert and awake, but you don't want to be jittering out of your desk chair (at least I don't want to!) so adding flowers mellows the black tea out, wakes up the brain and relaxes the body. The power of taste and smell on the brain is awesome! So about that taste, it is really interesting, as expected with an unusual blend. It starts with a blend of malty briskness and straw-like chamomile flowers, this moves to creamy sweetness, rose, and lavender. The finish is sweet roses that linger for a while, and honestly inspire me to romance, but roses do that to me. I like this tea, it is a really good match for reading or intellectual pursuits (what, art is intellectual) because it adds the needed caffeine, has an interesting taste and aroma, but does not overwhelm. You can sip it and do your thing, no need to worry about a powerhouse tea that takes all your focus away from said project.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Oh man, I am pooped! My birthday has been great fun, in typical mom and me fashion, we went out on a thrifting day! Of course we cranked Thrift Shop (it is our theme, retroactively, for most of our lives) and hit all the shops in the area. Surprisingly (or not because I am almost broke) we did not bring home too many things. I did meet an awesome lady at one of the thrift stores, a fellow tea fan, so I had a nice bonding experience, which is always fun! Oh yeah, and my mom and Sheena combined to get me a new teapot, but more on that this weekend!

What does one review on their special day, clearly one of their favorite types of tea (yes it is an oolong) but which of the multitudes do I reach for? Yancha, definitely Yancha. Specifically What-Cha's Fujian Qi Lan Wuyi Rock Oolong, from what I can gather it is a fairly light rock oolong leaning towards the more floral side than the roasted side. That is fine by me, though I prefer the kick in your face char and tobacco notes, I do really appreciate the milder ones as well. Oh who am I kidding, have I ever met an oolong, even a really garbage one at a Chinese restaurant, that I haven't enjoyed? So, on to the Qi Lan, the aroma of the dried leaves is certainly a Yancha, I notice the tobacco and char notes that are so familiar, but they are much milder and joined by dried cherry and flowers, specifically hyacinths. Many rock oolongs are sweet, this one takes it too a whole new level, much like combining a Dan Cong and a Yancha for ultimate yummy smells.

Guess what, no surprise this tea is going into my Yancha teapot because anytime I can use my Yixing I am happy. Now don't get me wrong, Yancha is fantastic in a gaiwan, but there is something really special about Yixing teapots, a special kind of magic. The aroma of the wet leaves is a blend of chestnuts, flowers, black walnuts, roasted chestnuts, and a touch of pipe tobacco. The aroma is very complex and sweet, the floral notes are really quite light, not the headiness of orchids, more like walking in a spring garden. The liquid's aroma is sweet and creamy with notes of cocoa, chestnuts, hazelnuts, spicebush, violets, and pansies. Odd to mention pansies, but as someone who has harvested and made pansy tea MANY times (I was an odd child) I know that smell all too well.

The first thing I will say about this steep is it feels good, fancy tea folk might call this Cha Qi, it tingles and makes me feel both relaxed and focused, it is a beautiful feeling, much like my body is blending with the tea. It coats the mouth and is very smooth, the tastes starts out with walnuts and a hint of char, like a very distant and now dead fire. This transitions to sweetness, like figs and dates, two of my favorite things to eat, so extra yummy points there. It ends with a blend of toasted nuts and spring flowers.

For the second steeping, the aroma is warm and spicy, a blend of dates, cocoa, and hazelnuts with a distinct lily finish. The taste is a touch milder, there are less notes of figs more notes of nuts, definitely picking up the hazelnuts and walnuts. In the middle there is a small date themed explosion that has the same coating sensation, but instead of the entire mouth it is more of the back of the throat. The finish is lilies, this taste lingers with a nectar like sweetness for quite a while, or at the very least long enough for me to do another steep and let it get to sipping temperature.

The aroma of the third steep shares the same spicy and floral notes as the second with an added char and tobacco finish, It is a little bit like someone tossed a flower on dying coals and instead of burning the flowers released its scent to be mixed with the smell of coals. The taste has mellowed out a good bit, mostly it is a sweet blend of hazelnuts and dates with a hint of tobacco. For the finish I am left with lingering lilies and honey. This Yancha is delicious and unique, is it my new favorite? Not sure, I am not sure anything will replace my love of Shui Xian which I consume in rather insane quantities, but this will certainly be an immensely enjoyable treat. Now I shall finish my birthday by catching up on my reading!

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

It is my birthday tomorrow, so as expected the subject of cake came up with my mom. Since this is the first year in a very long time that I am gluten free, this is a bit of a conundrum, do I want to try a gluten free version of a favorite cake or try something new? We were going to make a really amazing cheesecake (one of my favorite recipes) but the goat cheese in this part of the world for some reason costs an arm, leg, and a goat. After spending an hour wandering around the store trying to come up with a solution we finally gave up and chose some fudge. Life is complicated sometimes (kinda like my birth, sorry mom!)

Today's tea has nothing to do with cake or fudge, except that I think it tastes really good with either of those. Teavivre's Nonpareil Anxi Yun Xiang TieGuanYin Oolong Tea, a Fujian oolong which is made in the traditional manner of roasting (rather than the more vibrantly green ones that have become popular as of late) which requires a lot of extra work. The Yun Xiang (roasted) kind of Tie Guan Yin was the first oolong I fell in love with back when I was in high school working at a tea/coffee shop almost fifteen years ago. Memories! The aroma is richly roasted, as expected, with notes of char, roasted chestnuts, walnuts, pecans...this is a nutty tea! Finish that off with a distant orchid aroma and you have a very intense aroma, I do suggest sitting down if sniffing this tea.

Into my roasted oolong dedicated Yixing teapot the rolled leaves go for their bath. After their first steeping, the leaves let out a powerful blend of char and toasted nuts. The fire roasted chestnut aroma coming out of the leaves really makes me wish I had access to a fire place and free chestnuts (ah, those were the days.) The liquid has the same roasted nuts and char aroma but with caramelized sugar and a touch of flowers giving the tea a layer of sweetness.

That is a smooth start, smooth and rich, it begins with chestnuts and caramelized sugar, this transitions to black walnut, and lastly it finished with a touch of smoke and char. The mouth feel is almost velvety and thick, it is definitely a whole mouth tea.

Onto steep two! The aroma is very similar to the first, except someone upped the nut-ometer (this is a thing now, and it is a good thing) I mean holy moly that is a lot of roasted nuts, there are chestnuts, pecans, walnuts, and a nice finish of orchids. The taste does not disappoint, it starts out sweet, like caramelized sugar and flower nectar and builds into roasted nuts. The roasted nuts linger until it fades into char which stays as an aftertaste for a bit.

The third steep, well, I got lost in memories a bit. It is sweeter in both aroma and taste, there is still a strong roasted nut presence, but the sweetness and flower nectar have a much stronger presence. This tea is a much higher caliber than the first one I tried, or even the Yun Xiang Tie Guan Yin that was my everyday tea for many years, but it has the familiarity that always puts me in a nostalgic state. That moment when I first made the Tie Guan Yin and took my first sip, it was like something exploded in my brain, it was a moment of pure bliss that I will never forget, my tea awakening.

Monday, November 17, 2014

I swear I have had the attention span of a marmot today (I actually have no idea how their attention span is) it has been all over the place. Not really sure why I assume that marmots have really scattered attention spans, but it just works for me. It all started with mom's landlord unexpectedly deciding to work on the water, with no warning, so on and off all day we had no water. My day was thrown off the moment I was unable to get a shower this morning, I am just glad I filled my kettle up before the water popped off.

Today's tea comes from a company whose whole persona (do tea companies have personas?) really fits with a certain side of my personality most of my readers don't see. The very sarcastic, raunchy, foul mouthed...I would even go so far as to say, depraved side! Depravitea's Keep Calm And Chai On is probably their most tame tea, description wise, so perhaps it is the best to start with as an introduction to this company's oeuvre. This particular chai is a blend of black teas, cardamon, cinnamon, cloves, anise seeds (all organic) and natural spice flavor. Opening the little pouch and whoa, that is a kick in the face of sweet cinnamon, after that initial spice punch there is a mellow blend of cardamon and anise. I love the anise, it is one of my favorite things to have in tea, mmm licorice, so bravo for that. The base tea is rich and a bit malty, this is a surprisingly sweet chai, which I like.

Brewing the tea turns the tea area into a crazy spice emporium, seriously so much cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, with just a pinch or anise. It smells like my favorite aisle in the Indian market I haunt on occasion (ok, I only haunt it when visiting my mom.) There are also sweet molasses and malty notes that are hiding under the spice explosion, after the proverbial dust clears, you get a good sniff of the base tea. The liquid is creamy and sweet, and this is pre-milk and sugar, lots of spices and molasses with a touch of malt, surprisingly balanced spices.

For all the super spices in the wet leaves, this chai is politely mellow. I admit I was expecting a powerful punch of cinnamon and cloves, but instead I get a balanced warmth of the 'spicy' spices and an only slightly milder caress of cardamon. I always feel like cardamon is like a caress, like a headrub when you have a splitting headache, I really like cardamon. The anise is also present, it sneaks in at the finish, along with the molasses and malty blend of the base black tea. The aftertaste leaves my mouth feeling tingly from the spices, along with a sweetness that lingers. One really funny thing about this chai was my mom's reaction, I gave her a sip (as I have been doing with the teas I have been tasting while I have been visiting) and she took a sip...and then refused to give me my cup back! I enjoyed the chai, but she went bonkers for it, so naturally I let her have the rest of my cup.